Guest Post: Introducing Tom, The Beer Whisperer

Hey everyone, glad you could make it!  I'm out of town for the next few days, so I've enlisted The Beer Whisperer to give a post.  This is his first post here, so it's a bit of an introduction to The Beer Whisperer and the breweries and beers from his area in Missouri.  Check out his YouTube channel here!

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And a Howdy Doo to you! I'm Tom the Beer Whisperer and I love to talk about beer, I love to drink it too!
                       
This is my first article for this blog so,here's a little about what I do. I really don't do beer "reviews" more like beer conversations.
                        
So, since I've been in St Louis for past 2 months, I want to talk about the craft beer scene here and what beers from this area you should look out for.
                                               
Quite a few craft breweries have popped up in St Louis over the last few years.  4Hands, Urban Chestnut, Six Row, 2nd Shift, Civil Life, just to name a few.

All are great in different ways and that's what I love about the craft beer explosion with many breweries expanding and even inventing new styles, so, here's a few of my faves from these breweries:

4Hands: I do have a current infatuation with this brewery and many pubs in the area carry there brews. Two that you see just about everywhere are their Reprise Centennial Red and their Divided Sky Rye. Both are versions or riffs of an IPA.  The Red is a beautiful version of the American Hoppy Red. This one, however, is designed to showcase the centennial hop, which it does.  The Rye, oh the rye, an amazingly refreshing brew, a golden version of the style that's hopped to please.  They have many other great brews but, those are two that are easily found.

Urban Chestnut: This is a very exciting young brewery that has two brew series, their Reverence, which pays homage to traditional styles and their Revolution that turns the craft beer world upside down. Let's start with the Zwickel.

I hadn't had this traditional regional German delight before, hadn't even heard of it before to be honest with you.This beer was the highlight of summer last year, 5.1% 25 IBU, deceptively delicious and wildly refreshing. A great anytime brew and I love the big 16.7oz. bottles they come in.

One more UCBC beer I'll talk about is the STLIPA(St Louis IPA).  It's their version of a double IPA and it's absolutely stunning! There is no doubt in my mind that this will be talked about as one of the best double IPA's around.

Six Row, 2nd Shift and Civil Life all have great beers too, but, I'm running long so, I'll stop there for the moment.

Your neighborhood too probably has breweries popping up. Springfield Mo, where I live has Mother's Brewery, which is absolutely spectacular, Springfield Brewing Company, a brewpub making some fine brews and White River just opened but, I've been in St Louis and hadn't had a chance to try them yet.
                                      
My point to all of this rambling is this: Don't let anyone say, "I don't Like Craft Beer", or, "It's Too Expensive"
or, "That's Just For Pretentious People" and here's why:

Statement #1: There is just too many different breweries and styles to discount it all completely, these individuals just need to be led to the right beer for them.
                                 
Statement #2: Although I will agree many are very expensive and even I have complained about that in several videos, there are many affordable brews to get your feet wet in the craft beer market and, the truth is that barley malt costs more than rice, corn, corn syrup or sugar, so you do have to pay a littel more for quality but, it doesn't have to break the bank.
                                 
Statement #3: Well there are no shortage of Johnny Come Lately snobs to the craft beer industry and there's no doubt that many of these wannabe somebody's are here for the trend, true craft beer lovers have been around a while and are here to stay. You see, 30 pack drinkers are in it to get wasted while the the true craft beer drinker, while we appreciate the buzz, I know I do, it's about the taste, the pleasure, the enjoyment, the love and the passion.

So, support all your local breweries and pubs, try everything and don't belittle that PBR drinker, simply show them a better way. I'm Tom the Beer Whisperer and I'm going to Howdy Doo myself the heck out of here!